Dr Newman Burdett, Head of Centre for International Comparisons, National Foundation for Education Research presented at the BIS / Ipsos MORI event Improving basic skills: An international perspective on a UK dilemma in London on 14 January 2015.

1. Implications of PIAAC
findings for England
Dr Newman Burdett
14th January 2015

2. Mean scores for England in
each domain
Source: PIAAC (2012)
* The difference between England and OECD mean scores is statistically
significant at the 5 per cent level
Domain England mean OECD mean
Literacy 273 273
Numeracy 262* 269
Problem solving
in a technology-
rich environment
281* 283

3. Key findings from PIAAC for
England in Literacy
Averageliteracyscore
relative(toOECDaverage)

4. Other findings
• The final stages of compulsory education do not
develop young adults’ real world literacy and
numeracy skills
• Young people (aged 16-24) are less likely to be
participating in education or training.
• Young people (aged 16-24) are less likely to
use numeracy skills in their daily lives than in
most other countries.

5. So are we going to the dogs?
“Those who moan that education standards have
declined in Britain are correct, according to the
OECD.”
BBC Business 8 October 2013

6. How we did this
• We combined the PIAAC data with a previous
international survey of literacy skills, IALS, in
which England participated in 1996.
• By comparing more than one snapshot we can
separate cohort and age effects because some
generations are measured at two time points.

7. Why is it important to
distinguish these two effects?
• The cohort effect is the differences between
generations, fixed over time
• The age effect is the change in skills level in
the same individuals over time

8. Our research found a different
story to the one commonly
reported
• The cohort of 16-24 year olds in 1996 scored
significantly lower on average than the 25-34
and 35-44 age groups.
• When measured again in 2012, the same
cohort (now age 32-40) scored 15 scale points
higher.
• This implies it is an age effect

9. How England compares

10. How to interpret this
• This suggests a skills gain after leaving full-
time education and entering the labour market.
• The skills gain is relatively unusual to England.
• This helps to explain why the skills of England’s
young people are so low, while England’s
overall average performance was similar to the
average among all participating countries.

11. So standards have not
changed?
• This interpretation also fits with the other
international survey data (e.g. PISA) that
suggests that school performance in England in
maths, science, reading and problem solving
has not changed significantly since 2006.

12. Putting the findings into
context
• The United Kingdom spends more per head on
education than the average across OECD
countries
• Only 6% of PISA UK students have a very low
score on the PISA index of socio-economic
background
OECD 2012

13. What positive findings do our
further research show?
• Young adults continue to effectively develop
the relevant skills while in the workplace
– despite entering the world of work or further
education with relatively low skills compared to other
OECD countries.
• Businesses in England seem to make more
efficient use of these skills
– giving young adults more opportunities to practise
these skills
– translating them better into productivity (earnings).

14. What about future
generations?
• The age effect only provides a forecast of the
skills gain we might expect to see the current
generation of young people experience based
on the experiences of the previous generation.
• If youth unemployment rises then opportunities
for skills development might be missed.
• The impact of extending compulsory education
and training to 18 is not yet clear.

15. Caveats about international
comparisons
• Compulsory education ends at different ages in
different countries.
• Different countries might place different values
on different skills.
• The needs of different people / stakeholders /
sectors will vary – there is no right answer.
• IALS and PIAAC measure slightly different skills
(although we have been careful to map them).

16. NFER provides evidence for excellence
through its independence and insights,
the breadth of its work, its connections,
and a focus on outcomes.
National Foundation for Educational Research
The Mere, Upton Park
Slough, Berks SL1 2DQ
T: 01753 574123
F: 01753 691632
E: enquiries@nfer.ac.uk
www.nfer.ac.uk
n.burdett@nfer.ac.uk
Reports can be found here:
http://www.nfer.ac.uk/about-nfer/media-and-
events/research-digs-deeper-into-young-adults-
skills-in-england.cfm